Under an arched passageway in the old Casbah, within the same few blocks as Umar Mosque and the Church of the Nativity, known as the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ, is a new stop for pilgrims who seek history and culture in Bethlehem. The Hosh Al-Syrian Guesthouse, a centuries-old building reborn as a 12-room boutique hotel, has become an international crossroads since it opened last Christmas. Helmed by Fadi Kattan, a thoroughly modern Palestinian transnational who speaks fluent French, English, and Arabic, “the Hosh” (as it’s called) is now filled with guests who are equally cosmopolitan: European philharmonics directors, museum curators, university professors, and the occasional model. Kattan has fed a steady stream of foreign journalists, geopolitical tourists, filmmakers, and gay couples who were wary but reassured by the warm welcome they received.

“It creates interesting discussions,” Kattan says of his clientele. “I’m trying to cater to discerning travelers, and allow them to discover the Old City of Bethlehem, and the region.”

Though let’s be honest: A lot of people come to the Hosh for the food. Kattan, a Paris-trained chef, is inspired by the epicurean cooking of his Palestinian grandmother, and is as comfortable with traditional spiced lamb as chocolate mousse and liver pate. His aim is to reinterpret indigenous dishes. Kattan’s take on Palestinian musakhan transforms a savory herbed chicken on bread into a paté infused with sumac spice, topped with sauteed onions, pine nuts, and a hint of pomegranate molasses.

Laura Mattarella, the daughter of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, recently lunched at the Hosh, enjoying an herbed goat cheese mousse with a spinach and red pepper durum wheat casserole; caramelized tomatoes; and a 2013 cabernet from the nearby Christian mountain town of Taybeh. Her father had a working lunch elsewhere with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Kattan family was among the Christian clans who built the Hosh at least 300 years ago, adding labyrinthine courtyards to the hillside, with vistas that get better as you climb to higher terraces. The balconies of the highest rooms frame the Bethlehem mountainside, with tables fashioned of vintage steamer trunks—relics of the travels of Kattans who now live in Paris, Switzerland, and the Americas.

Scattered around the stone balconies are tender baby organic lettuce greens, arugula, and herbs growing in pots for use in his white stone kitchen. Kattan scours farmer’s markets for fresh vegetables and buys grass-fed lamb and aged beef from local producers.

Some savvy travelers have become habitués, like Jerusalem foreign correspondents who stop in the Hosh for coffee or lunch.

Even seasoned travelers coming for a cultural encounter with history-battered Bethlehem appreciate the sweeping views, memorable dishes, good linens, and strong espresso here. Some savvy travelers have become habitués, like Jerusalem foreign correspondents who stop in the Hosh for coffee or lunch. For tourists making the holy pilgrimage to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, the Hosh offers a new overnight alternative to riding the tour bus back to a Jerusalem hotel. “What’s remarkable about Bethlehem is the mix of the old history and the very alive daily culture,” Kattan says. “People are coming to see the buildings and the history, but also to learn more about the geopolitical situation.”

The journey to the central West Bank is still star-crossed, with travel advisories, an Israeli checkpoint that can be backed up for hours, and a telling Banksy mural of a rock-thrower who tosses a bouquet instead. The Bethlehem of today has an ardently feminist Christian mayor, Vera Baboun, who likes to talk about her doctoral studies in literature, meeting Alice Walker, and “deconstructing” her “vision for Bethlehem”—a future that remains uncertain.

But sojourners can still find the timeless. Just a few minutes by foot is the Church of the Nativity, the site of the 2002 siege by Palestinian militants that now hosts the 60-member, Tuscany-based Piacenti team that’s rescuing the dazzling Byzantine-Crusader mosaics. (They recently uncovered a lost angel that had been covered with plaster.) The Bethlehem souk is on the Hosh’s doorstep, with spices and handicrafts, and around the corner the women’s union sells embroidered pillows, bags, and clothing. Antique stores sell vintage jewelry, hand-woven carpets, and Syrian furniture inlaid with mother of pearl. Next door, Samy Khamis brews chai the old way—with aromatic blue mountain sage—out of a one-room stone shop; he is a familiar sight, holding a tray of little glasses aloft for his deliveries around the neighborhood.

Kattan can arrange for a fine meal, tell visitors where to find the Banksy murals, and even arrange an on-site Arabic tutor. Kattan wants his guests to leave with “the memory of pleasure, in a place of tranquility and coziness. The very high walls around us have an architecture that is soft to the eye, and give us intimacy. I want their souvenir to be a good time.”